Agriculture: Bluetongue

Baroness Byford: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will impose a ban on the importation of livestock from bluetongue restricted zones.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: Defra currently has no plans to ban the import of livestock from bluetongue restricted zones. Movements of susceptible species are governed by EC Regulation 1266/2007, which was developed with the best available scientific advice, balancing risks proportionately against impact on trade. Where new evidence has become available, rules have been adjusted. We will continue to consider emerging evidence and any implications for movement conditions.
	We will continue to conduct post-import testing of all imported livestock and, where livestock test positive for bluetongue, appropriate risk management action will be taken, depending on the serotype detected.
	Those importing livestock should however consider carefully importing from bluetongue restricted zones.

Asylum Seekers

Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the average weekly cost of accommodating an asylum seeker on (a) Section 4 support; and (b) Section 95 support.

Lord West of Spithead: During 2007-08 the accommodation element of Section 4 support was an average of £97 per person per week and accommodation element of Section 95 support was £96 per person per week.

Asylum Seekers: Congo

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their policy on forced removals of failed asylum seekers to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Lord West of Spithead: The UK Border Agency will enforce the return to the Democratic Republic of Congo of failed asylum seekers who have no right to remain in the UK but who refuse to leave voluntarily.

Banking

Lord Morris of Aberavon: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the estimated total cost of the support provided to banks in November 2008; and what contractual obligations were entered into with recipient banks on maintaining levels of lending.

Lord Myners: In order to ensure the stability of the financial system and to protect ordinary savers, depositors, businesses and borrowers, the Government took decisive action last October.
	Under the recapitalisation scheme announced on 8 October 2008, the Government invested £19.97 billion in RBS and £16.96 billion in Lloyds TSB/HBOS. These banks are also eligible to use the Government's credit guarantee scheme (CGS), under which up to £250 billion of bank lending will be guaranteed. Participating banks have accessed some £100 billion of funding under the CGS so far. Figures for individual banks are confidential.
	As part of its investment, the Government have agreed with the banks supported by the recapitalisation scheme a range of commitments. Details are available at www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/press_105_08.htm.
	These include agreements to make available affordable products during this period of global turbulence in financial markets, help individuals struggling with their mortgage payments stay in their homes and support the expansion of financial capability initiatives.
	UK Financial Investments Limited (UKFI) will oversee the conditions attached to subscribing to the Government's recapitalisation fund, including maintaining, over the next three years, the availability and active marketing of competitively-priced lending to home owners and small businesses at 2007 levels.
	In the Pre-Budget Report the Government also established a new lending panel to monitor lending, bringing together lenders, trade bodies, consumer groups and Government, regulators and Bank of England. This provides a forum through which Government and lenders can consider issues of mutual interest.
	On 19 January the Government announced further measures designed to reinforce the stability of the financial system, to increase confidence and capacity to lend, and in turn to support the recovery of the economy. Details are available at www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/press_05_09.htm.

Banking: Bonuses

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government what general instructions they have issued to banking organisations concerning the payment of staff bonuses.

Lord Myners: UK Financial Investments Limited (UKFI), which is wholly owned by the Government, will oversee the conditions attached to subscribing to the Government's recapitalisation fund, including in relation to remuneration policies. UKFI will work to ensure management incentivisation based on long-term value maximisation, which attracts and retains high quality management and which minimises the potential for rewarding failure.
	More broadly, on 13 October the chief executive of the Financial Services Authority wrote to the chief executives of the major banks and building societies, setting out the criteria for remuneration policies and practices which are properly aligned to sound risk management and controls. The FSA is currently undertaking a review of regulated firms remuneration practices and the authorities have made it clear that failure to comply with the standards set out in the 13 October letter will be reflected in the FSA's risk assessment of firms and will be taken into account when setting capital requirements.

Banking: Sweden

Lord Dykes: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will consult the Government of Sweden on their methods of dealing with their previous banking crisis, including nationalisation and re-privatisation, and financial penalties for the directors involved.

Lord Myners: The current financial crises are global problems and require an international, as well as domestic, solution. The UK authorities have been heavily involved in work at both EU and international level to enhance the stability and resilience of the global financial system.
	The Government will continue a close corporation with international colleagues.

Bees

Lord Moynihan: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to increase the funding of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs National Bee Unit.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The details for the research programme in the years shown have yet to be finalised. An additional £0.4 million per annum will be available for research on bees and other pollinators, bringing the total to around £0.6 million. Subject to current negotiations £0.5 million of the increased resources will be contributed to a wider research programme on pollinator decline, while the remainder will be used for applied research, mainly in the National Bee Unit.

Bees

Lord Moynihan: To ask Her Majesty's Government what level of research funding into the impact of foulbrood, varroa mites, dysfunctional immune systems and colony collapse disorder is projected for 2009, 2010 and 2011.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The details for the research programme in the years shown have yet to be finalised. An additional £0.4 million per annum will be available for research on bees and other pollinators, bringing the total to around £0.6 million. Subject to current negotiations £0.5 million of the increased resources will be contributed to a wider research programme on pollinator decline, while the remainder will be used for applied research, mainly in the National Bee Unit.

British Citizenship

Lord Avebury: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many residents of Hong Kong were granted British citizenship in each in each of the years from 2004 to 2008.

Lord West of Spithead: The available data for 2004 to 2007 are given in the attached table. Data for 2008 are scheduled for publication in May 2009.
	Statistics of persons granted British citizenship by previous nationality and under Section 1(1) of the British Nationality Act 1981 are published annually in a Home Office national statistics bulletin. These publications may be obtained from the Library of the House and from the Home Office research, development and statistics website:
	Annual bulletin 2007
	www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs08/hosb0508.pdf.
	
		
			 Grants of British citizenship in the United Kingdom to persons formerly resident in Hong Kong, 2004-07 
			 Number of persons 
			 Type of citizenship 2004 2005 2006 2007(p) 
			 British citizenship granted in the UK to residents of Hong Kong under Section 1(1)(1)(2) 80 150 570 780 
			 British citizenship granted under other Sections to persons from Hong Kong(3) 
			 Hong Kong SAR(4) of China (Holder of Certificate of Identity) 15 5 10 10 
			 Hong Kong SAR(4) of China (Holder of Special Administrative Region Passport) 105 115 85 100 
			 British Nationals (Overseas)(5) 455 465 545 680 
		
	
	(1) Includes persons of non-Chinese ethnic origin.
	(2) Data prior to 2006 may undercount.
	(3) Some British overseas citizens and stateless persons, whose pervious place of residence cannot be identified from the available data, may be excluded.
	(4) SAR = "Special Administrative Region".
	(5) British nationals (overseas) (BN(O)s) are a separate sub-group of former Hong Kong British Dependant Territories Citizens.
	(P) = Provisional.
	Figures are rounded to the nearest 5.
	Source Home Office migration statistics.

British Citizenship

Lord Avebury: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many minors applied for British Overseas citizenship and were granted British Overseas citizenship under Section 27(1) of the British Nationality Act 1981 respectively, in each of the years from 2002 to 2008 inclusive.

Lord West of Spithead: There were 15 minors who applied for British overseas citizenship under Section 27(1) of the British Nationality Act 1981 from 2002 to 2008. Of this number received, five have been approved. These figures are rounded to the nearest five. Due to the small numbers involved and the protocol not to itemise numbers of two or less for each year, a total number for the period has been given, as most of the figures would not be reported in a table by individual years.
	The information has been provided from local management information and is not a national statistic. As such, it should be treated as provisional and therefore subject to change.

Courts: Warrants

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether individual courts keep records of the warrants issued by each justice authorising entry to premises; and whether the record is open to inspection by (a) members of the public or (b) members of the legal profession acting on behalf of those upon whom the warrants have been served.

Lord Bach: A warrant specifically authorising entry to premises is not required by enforcement agents attempting to recover unpaid fines. The Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004 gives civilian enforcement officers (CEOs) and approved enforcement agents (AEAs) an explicit power to enter premises in order to execute warrants and to use reasonable force in order to do so. Her Majesty's Court Service records the number of times this power has been used. Any warrant is available for inspection by the person against whom it is issued or their legal advisers.

Courts: Warrants

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the process following the serving of a warrant to gain entry to premises.

Lord Bach: The Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004 gives civilian enforcement officers (CEOs) and approved enforcement agents (AEAs) an explicit power to enter premises in order to execute warrants and to use reasonable force in order to do so. Detailed guidance is contained in the magistrates' courts guidance search and entry powers (Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004). A copy of this guidance was placed in the Library of the House. The guidance contained a number of redactions for reasons of public interest and on health and safety grounds. The Information Commissioner agreed with the redactions.

Data Entry

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by David Hanson MP on 9 December 2008 (Official Report, House of Commons, col. 100W), whether they have set an overall standard for errors in data entry and processing; and, if so, what is that standard.

Lord Bach: Efforts are made to ensure the completeness and accuracy of the prison service IT system data, as far as is practicable. Prison establishments who are responsible for the data input, are not, however, always in receipt of the necessary details, notably regarding offences. Where the offence data are incomplete we use the category "offence not recorded". These data are collected on a central computer database, called the Inmate Information System (IIS), and are used to produce the various analyses of receptions, discharges and time served in custody.
	Data input teams have a range of performance measures in place, agreed with clients and stake holders, covering time and quality for each type of transaction/process we deliver for them.
	A new IT system, Prison-NOMIS is being rolled out to public prison establishments over the period spring 2009 to summer 2010.
	Prison-NOMIS uses a combination of mandatory fields, drop-down lists and field-level validation to ensure that the data entered by users is as complete and accurate as possible. Free text fields, which often lead to errors in input, are avoided where possible.
	The Prison-NOMIS drop-down lists are populated using standard data sets which are either nationally recognised, such as the ISO list of country codes, or common across the criminal justice organisations—for example, we are now using the same offence codes as the police and the Court Service.
	Guidance is also given to users in the form of a Prison Service instruction which highlights the importance of data quality to the organisation.

Drugs: Ecstasy

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to support the downgrading of ecstasy from class A to B if the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs so recommends.

Lord West of Spithead: On 11 February, the Government rejected the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs' recommendation that MDMA ("ecstasy") should be reclassified from a class A drug to a class B drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.

Education: Home Schooling

Lord Lucas: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the average amount paid to local authorities by central government in respect of each child who is being home-educated; and how this compares to the average amount paid in respect of each child who is being educated at a maintained school.

Baroness Morgan of Drefelin: Under the current dedicated schools grant system, the amount paid to local authorities by central government in respect of home-educated pupils for whom the local authority is financially responsible is the same as those who attend a maintained school. This amount is known as the guaranteed unit of funding (GUF). The average GUF for England in 2008-09 is £4,066.

Equality and Human Rights Commission: Religions and Faiths

Baroness Warsi: To ask Her Majesty's Government which religions and faiths are officially recognised by the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: The Equality and Human Rights Commission recognises all religions and faiths.

Financial Services Authority

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the duties of the Financial Services Authority concerning the provision of information upon request; and whether they have made any assessment of the authority's performance in this regard.

Lord Myners: As required by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA), the Financial Services Authority (FSA) already make substantial quantities of information available to the public.
	The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) gives the public a general right of access to all types of recorded information held by public authorities, including the FSA, subject to certain conditions and exemptions.
	FSMA imposes restrictions, subject to criminal penalties on disclosure of information which the FSA receives in the course of carrying out its duties. In turn, the FOIA protects such information from disclosure.
	Decisions by the FSA not to disclose information can be referred to the Information Commissioner and, ultimately, to the Information Tribunal.

Food: Pork and Bacon

Lord Rowe-Beddoe: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether it is sufficient for a pig to be processed in the United Kingdom in order to be labelled British, or whether a pig has to be bred, slaughtered and processed within the United Kingdom in order to be marketed as British pork.

Lord Darzi of Denham: Under the World Trade Organisation rules, if pork from outside the United Kingdom underwent a last substantial change, such as processing in the UK, then the product can be labelled as British. However, the Government recognise that this can potentially mislead consumers, therefore the Food Standards Agency issued guidance in 2002 (updated in 2008), which advises that under such circumstances the actual origin of the meat should also be given.
	The Government are keen to address this issue and Ministers from the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs have met with some retailers to discuss how current labelling practices can be improved so that consumers have the clearest information available to them to make informed choice. They will also be meeting with representatives of manufacturers and the food service sector.

House of Lords: Staff

Lord Norton of Louth: To ask the Chairman of Committees how many staff of the House are employed exclusively or primarily on press and public relations; and how this figure compares with the number of staff employed for the same purpose by (a) the House of Commons, and (b) the Scottish Parliament.

Lord Brabazon of Tara: The figures requested are as follows:
	
		
			  House of Lords House of Commons Scottish Parliament 
			 Staff directly involved in press and public relations work (information, marketing, education and outreach) 10 10 50 44 
			 —of which, press/media officers 2 10 10 
		
	
	These figures do not include Visitor Services staff in either the House of Commons (33) or the Scottish Parliament (18). The House of Lords contributes 30 per cent of the cost of staff working on bicameral services (such as education, outreach and visitor services), who are based in the House of Commons.

NHS: Patients' Choice

Lord Clement-Jones: To ask Her Majesty's Government what guidance they are giving to primary care trusts regarding patients' right of choice under Choose and Book and confirming the right of general practitioners to refer patients (a) to the NHS hospital of their choice, and (b) for NHS complementary medicine treatment.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking to ensure that primary care trusts are not restricting the choice of general practitioner and patients' choice under Choose and Book.

Lord Darzi of Denham: The NHS constitution includes a new right to make choices about your National Health Service care. The options available will develop over time and depend on your individual needs. From 1 April 2009, patients will have the right to choose in which trust they have treatment, when they are referred for their first out-patient appointment with a service led by consultants.
	New legally binding directions from the Secretary of State to primary care trusts (PCTs) support this new right. The department issued guidance, Implementation of the Right to Choice and Information set out in the NHS Constitution, on 21 January for PCTs to help them with the implementation of the right. The guidance explains what their new duties are and sets out some of the levers for implementing the new duties. The guidance does not refer to Choose and Book.
	Choose and Book is an enabler that supports choice and is not a constraint on how the NHS manages patient care. It is simply a tool that makes transparent the services available to support general practitioners and patients with choice and booking. Providers and PCTs agree decisions about how services are organised locally and how they are displayed on Choose and Book.
	The Government do not maintain a position on any complementary or alternative medicine treatments and it is the responsibility of the NHS to make decisions on what types of services or treatments they will commission and fund.

NHS: Patients' Choice

Lord Clement-Jones: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether patient choice and access to the Royal London Homeopathic Hospital is being restricted by some primary care trusts.

Lord Darzi of Denham: The Government do not maintain a position on any complementary or alternative medicine treatments and it is the responsibility of the National Health Service to make decisions on what types of services or treatments they will commission and fund. In considering a referral for any type of treatment, a general practitioner (GP) would take into consideration safety, evidence of clinical and cost effectiveness as well as the availability of suitably qualified and regulated practitioners. Some primary care trusts (PCTs) may have specific policies on the commissioning or funding of complementary medicine which a GP would also have to take into account.
	The Choose and Book system is an enabler and is not a constraint on how the NHS manages patient care. It is simply a tool that makes transparent, the services available to support GPs and patients with choice and booking. Providers and PCTs agree decisions about how services are organised locally and how they are displayed on Choose and Book.

NHS: Patients' Treatment

Lord Clement-Jones: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether patients are required to provide evidence of the effectiveness of any NHS treatment.

Lord Darzi of Denham: The department is currently implementing a national patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) programme. PROMs will provide information on patients' perception of the effectiveness of care they receive. After extensive piloting and research, PROMs is currently being implemented for four elective procedures (hip and knee replacement, groin hernia and varicose veins). Patients will receive a pre-operative questionnaire before the procedure and a post-operative questionnaire is then sent out between three and six months after the procedure. The questionnaires are then compared to assess patients perspective of effectiveness. Patient participation is voluntary; however, a high level of participation was recorded in the pilots.

Places of Religious Worship

Baroness Warsi: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many places of religious worship (a) are currently certified under the Places of Worship Registration Act 1855, broken down by faith denomination, and (b) were certified in each of the past five years, broken down by faith denomination.

Lord West of Spithead: The Places of Worship Registration Act 1855 provides for places of meeting for religious worship to be certified to the Registrar General. Under this Act the Registrar General records all places of meeting for religious worship certified to him. There are currently 29,774 places of meeting for religious worship certified under the Act. These are broken down by denomination as follows:
	
		
			 Roman Catholic 3,663 
			 Methodist 7,151 
			 Congregationalist 1,357 
			 Baptist 3,277 
			 United Reformed 1,638 
			 Calvinistic Methodist 1,147 
			 Brethren 945 
			 Salvation Army 896 
			 Unitarian 175 
			 Society of Friends 367 
			 Jehovah's Witness 927 
			 Other Christian bodies 6237 
			 Jews 370 
			 Muslim 837 
		
	
	"Other Christian bodies" includes those who describe themselves as Christian but do not designate themselves further. Examples of "other" include Assemblies of God, Latter Day Saints, Seventh Day Adventist, Greek Orthodox and Pentecostal.
	During the past five years the following places of meeting for religious worship have been certified by denomination:
	
		
			 2004—total of 151 
			 Roman Catholic 4 
			 Methodist 9 
			 Congregationalist 0 
			 Baptist 8 
			 United Reformed 2 
			 Calvinistic Methodist 1 
			 Brethren 2 
			 Salvation Army 6 
			 Unitarian 0 
			 Society of Friends 2 
			 Jehovah's Witness 7 
			 Other Christian bodies 24 
			 Jews 2 
			 Muslim 25 
			 Sikh 3 
			 Other 56 
		
	
	
		
			 2005—total 170 
			 Roman Catholic 8 
			 Methodist 10 
			 Congregationalist 0 
			 Baptist 4 9 
			 United Reformed 4 
			 Calvinistic Methodist 2 
			 Brethren 5 
			 Salvation Army 3 
			 Unitarian 1 
			 Society of Friends 0 
			 Jehovah's Witness 9 
			 Other Christian bodies 32 
			 Jews 1 
			 Muslim 18 
			 Sikh 8 
			 Other 60 
		
	
	
		
			 2006—total 183 
			 Roman Catholic 4 
			 Methodist 7 
			 Congregationalist 1 
			 Baptist 15 
			 United Reformed 0 
			 Calvinistic Methodist 0 
			 Brethren 1 
			 Salvation Army 3 
			 Unitarian 0 
			 Society of Friends 1 
			 Jehovah's Witness 7 
			 Other Christian bodies 43 
			 Jews 2 
			 Muslim 31 
			 Sikh 8 
			 Other 60 
		
	
	
		
			 2007—total 227 
			 Roman Catholic 7 
			 Methodist 11 
			 Congregationalist 1 
			 Baptist 9 
			 United Reformed 4 
			 Calvinistic Methodist 0 
			 Brethren 8 
			 Salvation Army 5 
			 Unitarian 0 
			 Society of Friends 4 
			 Jehovah's Witness 7 
			 Other Christian bodies 48 
			 Jews 6 
			 Muslim 38 
			 Sikh 4 
			 Other 75 
		
	
	
		
			 2008—total 196 
			 Roman Catholic 4 
			 Methodist 7 
			 Congregationalist 1 
			 Baptist 3 
			 United Reformed 1 
			 Calvinistic Methodist 0 
			 Brethren 6 
			 Salvation Army 5 
			 Unitarian 1 
			 Society of Friends 0 
			 Jehovah's Witness 6 
			 Other Christian bodies 60 
			 Jews 3 
			 Muslim 33 
			 Sikh 9 
			 Other 57

Questions for Written Answer: Unanswered Questions

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they will answer the Written Question tabled by Lord Laird on 11 December 2008 (HL262); and what is the cause of the delay.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: I replied to the noble Lord on 12 February 2009 and apologise for the delay in responding, which was due to an administrative error.

Recycling

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 28 January (WA 64), whether, rather than trying to find alternative overseas markets for United Kingdom produced recyclable waste materials, they will help British companies to develop new recycling methods and products locally.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The reprocessing of recyclable materials in the UK, and the export of such materials for recycling abroad, are not mutually exclusive. The Government support both.
	The waste and resources action programme (WRAP) and the national industrial symbiosis programme (NISP) are working to find alternative markets for recyclates in the UK. Since its creation in 2000, WRAP has provided £50.7 million through its grant funding programme on direct interventions such as increasing the capacity of a particular market or supporting new markets for recyclable materials.
	Specific examples include:
	£2 million to support the creation of the first UK plants to deliver closed loop recycling of waste plastics back into material for food packaging with a capacity of 35,000 tonnes per year; and£17 million to a company to enable an extra 321,000 tonnes of recovered newspapers and magazines to be recycled each year. This led to all UK-sourced newsprint being made from 100 per cent recycled paper.
	Alongside this support for reprocessing in the UK, and since a large share of the world's manufacturing base is overseas, it makes sense for the UK to help supply export markets with recyclable raw material, and so reduce the carbon impact of using virgin raw materials in their place.

Schools: Water Supply

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to Written Answer by the Minister for Schools and Learners, Mr Jim Knight, on 21 May 2007 (Official Report, House of Commons, col. 1080W), what were the outcomes of the revision of the Education (School Premises) Regulations 1999 in relation to the required standards for the provision of school toilet and drinking water facilities for pupils.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what consultation the Department for Children, Schools and Families has undertaken during its review of the Education (School Premises) Regulations 1999.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government further to Written Answer by the Minister for Schools and Learners, Mr Jim Knight, on 11 June 2007 (Official Report, House of Commons, col. 797W), under what circumstances they would use their powers to take action to enforce compliance with the current requirements of the Education (School Premises) Regulations 1999 with regards to drinking water and toilets in schools for pupils.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what legislation they plan to put in place to ensure minimum standards of provision of school toilets.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what legislation they plan to put in place to ensure minimum standards of provision of drinking water in schools.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether pupils in schools are covered by the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 regarding the provision of drinking water and toilets.

Baroness Morgan of Drefelin: We set up a steering group to help us consider possible changes to the Education (School Premises) Regulations 1999 but, particularly in the light of the clear steer from our Schools Capital Consultative Group, we have decided not to proceed with a full review of the regulations. We will shortly be consulting widely on the basis of proposed changes only in respect of kitchen and dining facilities.
	Pupils in schools are not covered by the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 in relation to the provision of drinking water and toilets. However, they are covered by similar provisions in the School Premises Regulations, particularly regulation 17(3), and this is supplemented by guidance published by the department. We have no further plans to revise these provisions.
	We expect issues to be resolved locally, and responsibility for enforcing the School Premises Regulations rests with local authorities. Use of the Secretary of State's powers to enforce compliance would depend on the specific circumstances of any individual issue.

Sentencing Guidelines Council

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, in the light of the decision of the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) published on 24 December 2008 regarding the Attorney General's reference (No 124 of 2008) on a case of invasion of a person's home by robbers, revision and clarification of the Sentencing Guidelines Council definitive guidelines is required, with application to both England and Northern Ireland.

Lord Bach: The guidelines issued by the independent Sentencing Guidelines Council apply to England and Wales only. There are no plans to review the definitive guideline on robbery. This says that, for the offence of burglary in the home involving physical violence, relevant Court of Appeal guidance should be applied. For the type of offence committed in this case, the Court of Appeal said the normal range would be around five to six years following a plea of not guilty.

United Utilities

Lord Fearn: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will ask Ofwat to investigate why United Utilities have significantly increased water rates for north west sports clubs and sports establishments.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The increase in water bills for these customers was the consequence of United Utilities switching to site area charging for surface water drainage.
	The Government understand that United Utilities now proposes to set its surface water drainage charges for 2009-10 at 2007-08 levels for customers such as faith buildings, community amateur sports clubs and properties owned by scout and guide associations (that is, at levels prior to the introduction of site area charging). United Utilities is also working to ensure that properties are charged correctly.
	This is a very welcome step forward although we will continue to monitor this issue and engage further with Ofwat if necessary.